Storms, floods and disasters in Moss Landing
Moss Landing isn’t graded for hazard risk: Moss Landing has 45 residents; we grade towns of 1,000 or more.
What Moss Landing faces
Each hazard’s share of the building damage FEMA expects here, and how its rate compares with the rest of the country.
Earthquakes
River and rain flooding
Coastal flooding
Shares are of FEMA’s expected building damage, the measure the grade uses; ranks compare each hazard’s building-damage rate with all 85,154 U.S. census tracts. In FEMA’s terms, river and rain flooding is FEMA’s “Inland Flooding” (rivers and streams overflowing their banks, or rain overwhelming drainage). FEMA defines coastal flooding as high or rising tides and storm surge, so surge damage is counted there. Drought isn’t listed: FEMA counts its losses in crops only.
Does Moss Landing flood? No paid flood claims on record
FEMA’s records show no paid flood insurance claims in Moss Landing. That’s not a promise: most homes don’t carry flood insurance, so small floods go unrecorded.
Moss Landing isn’t in FEMA’s Community Rating System, which cuts flood insurance up to 45% in towns that do extra flood-proofing.
Insurance rates: Monterey County.2 federal disasters brought FEMA money to Moss Landing
Disasters that paid out in Moss Landing itself (aid to households or repair grants to Moss Landing), newest first, with that year’s flood claims.
- 2023Severe Winter Storms, Straight-line Winds, Flooding, Landslides, and Mudslides15 households applied for aid$27K aid approved
- 2022Severe Winter Storms, Flooding, Landslides, and Mudslides7 households applied for aid$17K aid approved
Monterey County has had 26 natural disasters declared by the President since 1953, most often severe storms, then floods. Not counted: the 2005 Hurricane Katrina evacuee emergency, which covered counties that took in evacuees.
Also 4 FEMA wildfire suppression grants (Fire Management Assistance, not a disaster declaration) for fires in Monterey County, 2008–2020.
Old photos of Moss Landing after a storm or flood belong in the town’s history. Add one, or share what you remember below.
Add to the Moss Landing archive →Get ready for what Moss Landing faces
A short kit for the hazards that drive the building damage here, what to check before you buy, and where neighbors get alerts.
- Drop, cover and hold on.
- Strap tall furniture and the water heater to the wall.
- Know how to shut off the gas.
- Turn around at flooded roads: a foot of moving water can carry off a car.
- Flood insurance usually takes 30 days to start, so buy it before the forecast.
- Keep papers and medicines up high, in a grab-and-go bag.
- Know your evacuation zone and the way off the coast.
- Storm surge comes fast: leave when you’re told, not when the water arrives.
- Move cars to high ground before king tides and nor’easters.
- Look up the address on FEMA’s flood map.
- Ask the seller or landlord whether it has ever flooded, and what flood insurance costs there.
- Get a flood insurance quote early: policies usually start 30 days after you buy.
Know where neighbors sign up for alerts? Add it to the Handbook so everyone has it.
Questions about natural hazards in Moss Landing
Is Moss Landing in a flood zone?
Flood zones are drawn street by street, so the answer depends on the address: look it up on FEMA’s flood map. In Monterey County, 23% of homes in mapped flood zones carry federal flood insurance, and 1.1% of all homes do.
How much is flood insurance in Moss Landing?
FEMA’s Community Rating System list shows no discount for Moss Landing’s flood program. Premiums depend on the building; policies usually start 30 days after you buy, so get a quote early.
What was the biggest storm in Moss Landing?
By FEMA money that reached Moss Landing, Severe Winter Storms, Straight-line Winds, Flooding, Landslides, and Mudslides (2023): 15 households applied for aid, $27K approved.
Storm stories
Memories, warnings and help from neighbors in Moss Landing.
Sources: FEMA National Risk Index v1.20 (December 2025), census-tract table, combined by where Moss Landing’s residents lived in the 2020 census; OpenFEMA: NFIP redacted claims, multiple-loss properties, community status book and residential penetration rates, housing assistance (owners and renters), public assistance funded projects, hazard mitigation properties and disaster declarations. Homes: Census ACS 2020–24. Preparedness tips: Ready.gov. FEMA’s model is an average of expected damage, not a forecast. How hazard risk is graded.